Vanilla Rooibos Parfait

Well… I tried this tea with semi – high hopes and I was let down. I have never had a rooibos tea before.. not sure if it was that or the “vanilla” that left me with an unsatisfied impression. I tried making a latte out of it also, my first time doing that as well.. I am still not impressed. I will leave this in my cupboard in case my taster changes in the near future.

I think this is the same as the “Vanilla Rooibos” full leaf tea sachets I bought at Starbucks.

Steeped 5 minutes with a bit of sugar. Took a sip.
BLECH EW PATOOEY.

So, um, not for me.

The taste of this is completely muddled. It just tastes wrong. And it coats the inside of my throat like cough syrup, and is not pleasant.

I’m fairly new to rooibos so I haven’t quite gotten accustomed to the taste yet. Despite my personal preferences, this definitely has good points. When I’ve had rooibos before, the pieces in the sachet were very flaky and dusty but this was sold is higher-quality mesh with larger twiggy pieces of the plant. It is has a very pleasant spicy smell with the distinct odor I tend to associate with rooibos. I brewed it for a shorter amount of time because I’m not a fan of the strength of herbal infusions. It seems like if I go to the recommended time in fruity infusion it is always overpowering rather than refreshing. Hence, I normally steep a little shorter with herbal/rooibos teas. I guess I’ve been drinking too many white and greens lately, because I was shocked how quickly the tea turned a beautiful deep chestnut color.

Unfortunately, the taste was what got me….but this may just be a matter of personal preference and not of poor tea quality. I drank it without any sweeteners and after it cooled quite a bit. I can’t remember where I read it before, but someone on here mentioned this tea tastes somewhat reminiscent of wax lips, and they hit the nail on the head! Unfortunately, I’ve noticed this is other rooibos I’ve tasted so I think it must be a taste I haven’t gotten accustomed to. But yes, waxy taste is actually very nauseating for me, and I don’t get nauseous very easily. Likewise, the scent of the finished tea also has a apple-like waxy smell to it. Honestly, I don’t taste much vanilla just the slightly taste of apple and cinnamon. The dominant taste is definitely the nutty flavor of the rooibos, which is quite good because I don’t like when I get flavors the overpower the base of my drink (yet also bad because rooibos isn’t my base of choice yet :p ).

I’d say it’s a fairly medium drink. At first it seemed watery but the more I drink it the stronger it seems. It seems silly but I can’t taste the fullness of a tea when it’s hot as much as when it’s cooled off a bit. Another nice thing is that the tea is very smooth, it goes down without any bitterness. Unfortunately, this (as well as other rooibos I’ve tasted) leaves a bit of an aftertaste which I don’t find pleasant. That wax-lips taste I talked about earlier. It also has a big of a medicinal taste to me…. Maybe I let it cool off too much and it is better hot.

Overall, this was a nice cup because the added herbs/fruits/etc. didn’t overpower the rooibos, leaves were much higher quality than expected, and there was no bitter final note. Still, it is very rare I can’t finish something, and this was one of those times. Made me feel sick

Had this served at Starbucks. This was really quite good. It smelled nice too. Had a sweet vanilla taste and fruity flavor, with a bit of spice. First time I had a rooibos tea and I was left satisfied. I will have to check out more rooibos tea.

This was not very good in my opinion. I couldn’t quite put my finger on the flavor in the tea that I didn’t like. Then I read what is in it. Its the peach!!! Peach in tea always tastes so artificial to me. I don’t know what it is about that but I really don’t like it. Its been the case in every single peach tea that I have ever tried. I will not get this again.

I work at *bux and we have this tea. Never tried it before because I’ve always been a bit of a caffeine addict so I had been slow to try the different non caffeinated tea options Tazo has. I made some and put it in Ice, it’s not that it’s bad. The taste is great. It just has this awkward apple cinnamon bite aftertaste that’s just too harsh. I couldn’t finish it. If your looking to a tea at starbuck’s go with Zen, Awake or Refresh instead if I were you. If you’re looking for a Rooibos tea, there are probably a lot better options.

I’m a fan of vanilla rooibos teas but this one just didn’t seem to do the job for me. It had more of a fruity cinnamon apple taste instead of smooth vanilla and was somewhat reminiscent of the scented candles at bed bath and beyond. On top of that it left a strange aftertaste similar to one an artificial sweetener would have.

Maybe if this tea had a stronger rooibos flavor I would have rated it higher, but it just wasn’t what I was expecting out of a vanilla rooibos blend.

My personal favorite. It tastes like an apple/peach pie, with a hint of vanilla and rooibos. Yummy hot AND cold.

I guess I am officially a Rooibos fan. Please try this tea if you are looking for a dessert tea to calm down your sweet tooth.

I have had it both hot and cold. When it is hot, the vanilla really comes through in the flavor. When it is cold, the peachy appleness is more dominant.

Good Job TAZO!

First tried this as a latte from Starbucks. I was instantly hooked. I love it. Went to Starbucks recently and bought a vanilla rooibos tin for my wife. I am converting her to becoming a tea snob with me.